Pie rack and case.



Patented Nov. 7, I899. B T WEBBER PIE RACK AND CASE.

(Application filed Feb. 11, 1899.) (No Model.)

J7 A131 z/1I?fo/r cw xw UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

BENTON T. WEBBER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

PIE RACK AND CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,596, dated November7, 1899.

Application'filed February 11, 1899- Serial No. 705,254. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENTON T. WEBBER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Pie Racks and Cases, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a very simple andefficient rack adapted to support a number of pies or similar articles,which may be of several sizes, the rack being adapted to allow the easyremoval of any of them without scraping dirt off the bottom, which wouldpass onto the article below.

Another object of my invention is to combine with a suitable rack asliding surrounding screen which is adapted to inclose the rack withoutmaterially obstructing the view thereof and may be raised for theremoval of articles from the rack.

The invention consists in part of a rack and suitable guides combinedwith an inclosing screen which may be slid up and down along the guides,in part of the form of shelves I employ, and in part of the arrangementand construction of the screen.

The particular embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, whichis the best form at present known to me, is also of my invention. Theinvention may therefore be best summarized as consisting of the combi-.nation of parts hereinafter described, and definitely specified in theclaims.

In the drawings which clearly illustrate my invention, Figure l is aside elevation of the pie rack and case with the screen broken away inplaces to show the interior more clearly. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same,and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is afragmentary enlargement of the parts shown near the extreme left of Fig.3.

Referring to the parts by letters, A represents a base which ispreferably a circular piece of wood. Extending upward from this base ondiametrically opposite sides are U- shaped rods, designated at the bendO and as to their legs 0 and C The inner legs 0' carry the spiders D,which form the shelves for the pies. These spiders are supported theproper distance apart by thimbles E, which surround the rods 0 and abutagainst the spiders. Above the top spider the rods 0 project through atop plate B, preferably of wood, which rests on the upper end of theuppermost thimble. This head B supports a name-plate F, which ispreferably formed as shown, and has downwardly-extending integral pinsf, taking into the head B. Lugs f formed on this name-plate, takebeneath and contact with the arches 0, formed by the bonds of theU-shaped rods, and thus when the nuts G and G which screw onto thethreaded lower ends of the rods 0', are tightened up against the lowestthimble and the bottom of the base, respectively, the whole rack islocked together.

The spiders D are formed, as shown, of the cross-bar d, which takesaround the rods 0, as stated, and the arms d, parallel with each otherand extending at right angles to the bar cl. These arms extend higherthan the bar 11, and thus the pie-pan, supported by the spider, restssolely on the upper surface of the arms. As the arms extend in thedirection in which the pie-pan is slid off the rack, they will have notendency to scrape off the dirt from the bottom of the pan, as would bethe case with the rod 01 if it contacted with the pan. At the same timethe spider is adapted to support any ordinary size of pie-pan.

Surrounding the rack is a screen H, formed of two semicylindrical piecesof wire-cloth, each bound at its upper and lower edge by thesemicircular band h and at its longitudinal edgeby the strip h, which isbent around the edge of the screen-cloth, taking onto each side thereof,and then with the encompassed cloth is bent at approximately a rightangle, as shown in Fig. 4. This angle-strip h is thus securely locked tothe cloth. The two portions of the screen are secured together by theU-shaped clips J, which take around the projecting ends of theangle-strips h. These projecting ends diverge from'each other sufficiently to dovetail, as it were, into the clip, which thus after beingeither sprung into place or slid on from the end of the strips holds thetwo parts of the screen securely together.

This construction is not only very simple and eflicient in service, butit is very cheap I to construct and allows the convenient separation ofthe case for packing or other purposes.

The casing carries the inside clips K, which are secured to theangle-strips 7t and take around the outer leg C of the U-shaped rod.These clips guide the casing in its elevation and engage with the red Cwith. suificient friction either to hold the case in any elevatedposition or to just allow it to descend. The clips K are formed on butone edge of each half of the screen, and thus in no way interfere withthe easy removal of the screen when separated.

In order that the casing maybe raised sufficiently high to allow theremoval of the highest pie, the U-shaped rods are extended upward abovethe head B a sufficient distance to properly guide the screen; but thisupward extension of the rods also furnishes convenient means for holdingthe name-plate, as shown, and in no way detracts from the appearance ofthe rack and case, the name-plate being a very desirable feature tocarry the dealers name or other advertising matter. A finger-clip 7L2 issecured to each of the lower bands 7t and furnishes convenient means forraising the screen.

The pie-rack may be conveniently assembled upside down in the followingmanner: The pins on the name-plate are forced into the head B, and theU-shaped rods are passed through their openings in the head until thearches of the rods engage with the lugsf on the name-plate. Thereuponthimbles and inverted spiders are alternately strung on the inner legs 0of the rods until the lowest thimbles are in place, when the nuts G arescrewed up tightly against those thimbles, locking the parts together.The lower ends of the U -shaped rods are then passed through openings inthe base A and the nuts G screwed onto the rods 0'. This completes theassemblage of the rack, which may be then righted and the screen securedin place by hooking the clips K about the rods C and swinging each halfof the screen inward, as on ahinge, about that rod and then eitherspringing the clips J over the projecting ends of the angle-strips h orsliding those clips on from the ends.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination of abase, two sets of rods rising therefrom, a system of shelves carried byone set of rods, a screen inclosing the shelves and engaging with theother set of rods and adapted to be slid up and down along the same,substantially as described.

2. In a pie rack and case, in combination, a base, rods risingtherefrom, a system of shelves carried by said rods, a stationary upperhead carried by said rods, an inclosing screen, said screen beingadapted to be elevated and to engage more or less snugly with said headwhen lowered, substantially as described.

3. In a pie rack and case, in combination,

a base, vertical rods extending upward therefrom, thimbles surroundingsaid rods, spiders having eyes which surround the rods between thethimbles, whereby said spiders cmbrace the rods and are supported by thethimbles and held the proper distance apart and thus constitute.shelves, substantially as described.

4. In a pie rack and case, in combination, a base, apair of rods 0 C oneach side thereof, a system of shelves carried by the inner rods 0, ascreen surrounding the shelves and engaging with said outer rods C whichform guides for the elevation of the screen, substantially as described.

5. In a pie rack and case, in combination, a base, a pair of U -shapedrods extending upward therefrom on opposite sides thereof, a system ofshelves carried by the inner leg of these rods, a name-plate having lugswhich take beneath the bend of the U-shaped rods, a screen surroundingthe rack and guided in its elevation by the outer legs of the U -shapedrods, substantially as described.

(3. In a pie-rack, in combination, the base, rods 0 extending upwardtherefrom, spiders D taking around said rods, thimbles E between saidspiders supporting them and holding them the proper distance apart, anameplate F held in place between the uppermost thimbles and the upperends of said rods C-, substantially as described.

7. In a pie rack and case, in combination, a suitable base A, a pair ofU-shaped rodsextending upward from diametrically opposite sides of saidbase, a system of spiders taking around the inner rods and formingshelves, thimbles surrounding these rods between the spiders andsupporting the spiders the proper distance apart, a head B carried bythe uppermost spider, a name-plate F carried by said head, saidname-plate having lugs f which extend beneath the bend of the U- shapedrods and engage therewith, a screen surrounding the rack and engagingwith the outer legs of the U-shaped rods, whereby it is guided in itselevation, substantially as described.

8. The combination with vertical guide-rods of an inclosing screen madeof longitudinallyseparable parts, the longitudinal edges of said partsbeing flanged outwardly, combined with outside clips which engage saidproximate outwardly-flanged edges and clamp the two parts of the screentogether, and inside clips which engage said vertical rods and serve toguide the screen in its elevation, substantially as described.

9. A screen composed of a plurality of longitudinally-separable parts,the longitudinal edges of which have strips h lying on each side of thescreen-cloth and with the cloth bent outward whereby the cloth is boundwithin the strip, said outwardly-bent strips of proximate parts beingbrought together and diverging outwardly, in combination with U -shapedclips J which engage with the outer sides of said outwardly-extendingstrips h, one edge of each half of the screen and ensaid stripsdovetailing into said clips whereby gaging with said Vertical rods andguiding the two parts are held tightly but separably the screen in itselevation, substantially as together, substantially as described.described.

5 10. The combination with a suitable rack, In testimony whereof Ihereunto affix my I 5 of apair of vertical rods carried thereby onopsignature in the presence of two witnesses.

posite sides, apair of semicylindrical screens BENTON T. WEBBER.surrounding said rack and secured at their Witnesses: meeting edges,thus making a cylindrical ALBERT H. BATES,

to screen inclosing the rack, clips K formed on PHILIP E. KNOWLTON.

